El Frío
by Kazias
Summary: When reports have been shown that the Legendary winged Mirage known as Articuno, has been lurking around the equally legendary place known as Mount Silver, Falkner couldn't resist checking it out. But of course, if anybody knew a thing or two about Murphy's Law, it's definitely going to strike... His travels are about to fly out of the oven, and into the Sheer Cold.
1. Uno

_Always make sure to bring toilet paper when traveling. Just sayin'. We've all been there._

"When are you going to evolve that bird of yours?"

In a far off land that was the very words of very far-off woman, who specialized in a particular type of Pokemon that he also was quite the expert with. Bird Pokemon, to be exact. It's no surprise that they'd share similar likes, such as preferring graceful moves that their Bird Pokemon execute so perfectly, and even both liking the same pleasant shade of ligh-blue, for it reminded them of the boundless skies.

But she did not understand why he refused to evolve his Pidgeotto, whom he fondly names Zephyr. Of course he knew exactly why, and he decided to ask her a question instead:

"If somebody, let's say your leader, asked you to change who you were and what you are into something else, and you didn't want to, would you change anyway?"

The woman, being very head-strong as she was elegant, replied rather coolly:

"Of course not, I'll change when I want to."

"There you go, then. Question answered."

She offered a friendly little chuckle, while he kept a stern look on her gentle eyes. That was nearly two months ago, when he decided to go out traveling. Although he lost to the Gym leader known as Winona, it did not lower his spirits and faith in his Pokemon. But he was having second thoughts about being complacent with his position at the moment. He was beginning to dislike challenging people to battles. He wasn't too fond of people anyway, if he was honest with himself. Spanning his memories even further back, he decided that he never wanted to be a human ever since he was a child. He wanted to be a Pidgeotto, or a Fearow, soaring across the skies with wings wide open. Free. He personally didn't even want to ride planes, or helicopters. They were too loud. And hand-gliders were too large, and bulky.

_A pair of perfect, beautiful feathered wings. That's the way to really go. _He thought to himself, smiling lightly as Pidgeotto perched lightly on his shoulder, playfully nibbling on a strand of his hair. He offered a quiet laugh and lifted a hand to stroke the side of his Pokemon's head. It cooed and nuzzled his fingers.

"So! Are you ready?" Out popped the leader of their little expedition; Belinda, a stocky woman with curling grey hairs along with a shade of lighter brown. It took a moment for Falkner to focus his eyes onto her. It appears that he's been pondering a little too much for the past few days. A shred of concern crossed Belinda's face, but Falkner quickly cleared his throat, and stretched his arms out to show how loosened up he was about the trip.

"Sure am, ma'am." He confirmed with a confident grin, and Pidgeotto backed him up with a loud bell-like chirp. A few others emerged from the Pokemon Center nearby at the foot of Mount Silver; An older man who was having trouble setting up his tracker, and another woman who appeared to be trying to help him out.

"Ah, there we go. Oh, this thing will lead us straight to it!" The older man, who's name tag simply read "Mack" held back the urge to hop with utter glee, as his female assistant, Min, shook her head and placed her hands on hips.

"You better watch out, old timer. Mount Silver could get so cold that trackers like those could go way-wire. Hey, do you sure you have enough clothes on?" Belinda eyed the tracker curiously, before turning back to Falkner. The Gym leader gestured to his heavy-coat with a furred hood.

"Seems like it." He replied.

"You may also want to return your Pidgeotto back into it's Pokeball. It may be snowing peacefully now, but that could quickly change. And bird type Pokemon don't do too well around ice."

Falkner felt a small spark of impatience, and he spoke up.

"Ma'am, I know what I'm doing, thank you." He gave her another sugar-coated polite smile, and Belinda quickly softened up on him.

"Well, alright. Mack, the tracker says that it's still at that Mountain, right?" She asked a little gruffly, turning to the man who's face was down, glued to the tracker.

"Yes, yes, it's all set up and well. Min, do you have everything with you?" He swished his hand curtly at Belinda.

"Yeh."

Falkner blinked at Min's first words. Well, word. She sounded like she was a man pretending to be a woman, with a deep voice like that. He held back a laugh.

As soon as they all agreed, Belinda began to lead them all into the entrance of Mount Silver.

Zephyr ruffled it's feathers in discomfort as they entered the cave.

"Sshh, it's alright."

The Gym leader began to stroke the bird Pokemon's red crest, and began to whistle gently to calm his Pokemon. With a small coo, the Pidgeotto nestled closer into it's master's neck, and remained still. He had to agree with his Pokemon. Mount Silver's caves were not something of comfort. Water would drop from the ceiling of the caves, and the walls were covered in old green moss, that was strangely a little too bright.

The thing that really got Falkner to shiver wasn't how dark the caves were, making Min the woman—man... Thing, raise a lantern to brighten things up. No, the thing that crept him out was the silent echoes that rebounded across the walls of the cave walls, whispering its way into his ears. The deeper they entered the caves, the louder and more audible the whispers were.

Falkner glanced all around him, half-assuming that one of his other group members were just pranking him and whispering things into his ear, but as he observed each of his group members, it almost seems as if they weren't hearing a single thing.

"Do you all hear that?" He asked aloud, his voice was carried out across the cave, repeating his sentence in echoes.

_Hear that... Hear that... Hear that..._

Even his own echo gave him a slight chill. There was something wrong with this mountain, he knew that much. Anybody who'd stay out here long enough surly must go insane at the shear eeriness of it all.

"What, the sound of snow outside of these caves?" Belinda asked, climbing over a rocky ledge. Everybody else followed her example to get past.

"The winds are rising, according to my tracker. And our special Pokemon seems to be making it's way up higher, and higher. Oh, looks like a snow-storm is coming up." Mack stared into his tracker, that also offered a bright light to illuminate the cave.

"Of course the weather gets worse as soon as we enter the caves, that's just so typical of the bi-polar weather. Well, at least we're safe inside these caves, they're connected to the summit as well, anyway." Belinda shook her head, her bright-mood was quickly turning for the worse on hearing the bad news.

"Excellent, that's where it's heading for as well." Despite being near his elderly-ages, he was still quite the bouncy, optimistic- or at least, oblivious man who didn't seem to care what dangers lurked everywhere. Falkner had swerve around a few times as he thought he heard a Pokemon approach them. He wasn't only just a visitor here, but he was also the one who was to protect them as they made their way across, seeing he was the only Trainer out of everybody here.

"So you all don't hear that?" He asked a little more quietly so he wouldn't have to hear his own echo again.

"Hear what?" Belinda asked, turning back to him curiously why marching onwards.

"Those whispers."

As soon as he answered, everybody went dead-silent. They tilted their heads and faced their ears in all-directions in hopes to hear anything to do with a whisper.

"Either I'm going deaf, your hearing is very sensitive, or you're just hearing things." Mack decided to speak out first. Even though he was aiming to reassure his fellow group member, Falkner ended up just feeling even more irritated at how they'd easily pass a seemingly trifling matter like that. He knew he shouldn't worry about it, and he wasn't sure why he was feeling so iffy and spooked. Perhaps it was because they weren't out in the open. He never liked being unable to see the skies.

Pidgeotto twitched it's wings, and suddenly cocked it's head, looking all over the place.

_Do you hear it too, buddy?_ Falkner took a glance to his bird Pokemon, who huddled a little closer to Falkner's head, it's feathers poking into his blue hair.

"Yeah, I don't hear anything." Belinda eventually said, shaking her head. "What about you, Min?"

"Nah." The man-woman replied dully, ignoring her- or his surroundings, focusing fully on just carrying all of the equipment and the lantern. Falkner had to admit, he/she was good at keeping things at a perspective, not letting the cave or the sound of the howling wind outside get to him even a little.

Suddenly there was a small little "Beep" on Mack's tracker, and he instantly jumped, holding back a little squeal.

"We're so close!" Falkner shook his head, chuckling quietly.

_Let's see here, we have an androgynous person with a girly name, and an old-ish man who seems to have the reactions of a five year old girl. Well, at least Belinda seemed normal enough._

"What exactly do you plan to do to that winged mirage thing, anyway? Roast it and eat it?" Belinda queried Mack, who was glancing around in hopes to see if the Ice-Blue bird would somehow reach them first.

_I spoke too soon. _Falkner stifled another little chuckle.

"We can't cook the bird of ice, you silly woman!" The old man almost gasped at the ridiculous idea of Belinda's, who rolled her eyes.

"We're going to capture it and observe it in a safe environment, and figure out how it freezes as it does." He sounded righteous and noble, as if it was the most heroic thing to do to capture a Pokemon from their natural environment and observe it like a bunch of stalkers. Falkner's irritation nearly made his grit his teeth.

"You're not going to stuff it in a cage, surly?" Falkner asked, keeping his politeness up to the best of his abilities.

"Oh no, a confined area, where it can still fly around freely."

"As long as it's in that area. So it would be trapped, still." Falkner replied sharply. His voice contained a kind of hardness like a Pidgeot's beak after it's been sharpened over a rock. Mack blinked, his excitement momentarily disabled.

"No need to be so pedantic, young man. It will be released as soon as we find out useful information about it." He said, giving the Gym leader a cautious look. Falkner replied back with a hard stare, even though he kept the illusion of a polite smile. Mack almost didn't know how to react on this strange spectacle.

"Fair enough." Falkner said brightly, and quickly turned around as he realized his illusion broke fro a fraction of a second.

"It's alright to be nervous, everyone. This is a Legendary Pokemon we're heading for, after all." Belinda spoke up, looking over to Falkner, then to Mack, making sure they weren't about to start a fight.

"Nervous? I'm ecstatic! I've always dreamed of glimpsing any Legendary Pokemon, and now we're able to! One that belongs to Kanto, nonetheless! How strange how it's away from it's original home. Something is definitely up." He went on staring at his tracker, the bright dots and lines only made sense to him, it seemed.

Falkner pondered on the topic of Legendary Pokemon. He's never seen any before. But he'd hear tales that his father would tell him of his great adventures, out traveling the world. He hasn't heard from his father in a long time now, but he was still waiting on that next mail, whatever it may be. His father described the bird of ice to him:

"_It's a ice-blue bird with a sparkling long tail. If it's blazing-red eyes wont freeze you on the spot, it's ice-beam will. Don't go looking for trouble on this tough old Legend, it only defends itself."_

"_Hey dad, have you ever fought it?"_

"_Me? Are you kidding? I'd be here with frost-bite if I ever dared touch it! It can freeze the very air, you know, the particles of water that's in the air around it. But I did watch it fly. Boy, I'll never forget the way it flies. It's like some kind of icy angel. Cold. Calculating. Deadly."_

Falkner smiled in fond memories of the stories his father would tell him as a child. He missed those days, but like anything, he could replace those lost memories with new memories that he could think back on with happiness.


	2. Dos

_Pfff, she so could have told a better story._

"Do you folks want to hear a spooky tale?" Belinda asked. She glanced up as she heard a screaming howl of the wind outside. They were nearing the exit of the tunnels.

"Go for it." Mack said eagerly, always enjoying to hear new stories.

"Well, some say that a mysterious, but powerful trainer lurks around this very mountain." Belinda coughed into her hand to take on a more spooky-voice to suit the part.

There was a pause as Belinda crossed her arms, proud to have finally shared a story.

"Is that it?" Mack uttered.

"...Pretty much." Belinda shrugged, scratching her head. She was never the kind to tell tales, but at least it was something for everyone to imagine.

"The red-eyed man, with a rare flaming dragon?" Falkner turned his sharp-eyes to the woman, who blinked, a little taken aback at his urgent response.

"Yeah, I think that's it. Why, you seen him?" She asked, now curious of any possible stories he may have to share. Falkner calmed down, his eyes lowering to the rocky ground below.

_I thought I did, a long time ago..._ It was almost like a nightmare, if he wanted to be more accurate. The trainer came, and left- with both victory, and his badge. It went by so fast, he wasn't sure if it was just a dream, or if it really happened. Other Gym Leaders all over Johto claimed that they had the same vision, or at least deny it very bitterly; But the rumor still holds strong. He was real, somehow.

It only just occurred to the group that they had finally arrived at the exit. The entrance yawned out illy, the snow billowing inside, raging to get inside. The howling wind was louder than ever.

"Get your coats ready, everyone. And stay close. Min, get the rope." Belinda's inquisitive eyes of hearing what Falkner had to say quickly turned more stern. She did have a group to make sure they came back out of the mountain alive. Min obeyed and brought the rope out. She collected one end of the rope, and began to tie everybody's wastes up with the rope.

While Belinda was at one end of the rope, Falkner was at the other; With both Min and Mack at the middle.

Tightening the rope firmly, Belinda gave a sure nod to Falkner. "Are you sure your Pidgeotto can handle it? I know you're a Gym leader, but I like to be careful. You never know."

"I'm very sure, thank you for your concern." Falkner replied. Belinda hesitated, but accepted his decision. It wasn't her fault if the half-evolved bird got swept away in the blizzard, after all.

Once everyone got their goggles and hoods over-heads, it was time to set off outside. As soon as Falkner stepped outside with everyone else, he was instantly greeted with a powerful blast of wind. Pidgeotto cried it's bell-like cry, and released a powerful gust of wind of it's own, blasting another gust of wind away to stop everyone from falling over at the force.

"Keep the wind and snow away, Zephyr." Falkner grinned confidently to his loyal companion. It replied with a chirp, and released another powerful blast of wind, sending the billowing rain of snow to spiral away as if it was carried away by an invisible ghost.

"That's one impressive bird you got there." Belinda stared, watching the Pidgeotto create a windy-force field to protect everybody from the snow and harsh winds.

"I know." Falkner shrugged as if it was no big deal. Belinda rolled her eyes at such a casual response, expecting a 'Thank you', at least, before heading onwards.

"It's so close! My Tracker is going crazy." Mack exclaimed, knocking on his device a few times to keep it going.

Falkner felt as if he was inside a reverse snow-globe; Inside the windy-force field of Zephyr's, they stayed safe and sound, while outside they watched the snow furiously fly about as the winds roared vigorously. Along with the wind's calls, he thought he could hear another cry from afar. It started off with a low shout, then a spluttering screech. It was loud and sounded as if it was amplified.

"Did you hear that? It's near!" Mack, now, was hopping with excitement.

"Be on your guard, everyone." Belinda called out, pulling the rope along. As Falkner thought he saw a flash of something red behind them, he turned around, feeling his waist tug him along forcefully as Belinda pushed through. Up in the skies above, he could see something.

At first it was just a shadow among the crowd of pure-white snow- with two wide wings, gliding down towards them. It was then he saw the shadow's eyes open, revealing a piercing red on each eye. Out the shadow called again, with the same cry as last time- but it was far louder, as it was diving up them.

"Zephyr!" He called out. The Pidgeotto didn't need to be told. It flapped it's at everybody, creating a blast of wind strong enough to send everyone flying back. Yelping and shouting, everybody fell into the snow, getting half-buried in it all.

The shadow finally revealed itself, as it slammed it's talons into the snow just metres away from where Falkner and everybody else had previously been. Pidgeotto cried out as it was buffeted by the snow as it's wind-forcefield went momentarily down. The snow tackled Falkner down along with everybody else, threatening to tumble them back into the snow.

Grunting and kicking the snow away from his legs, Falkner quickly scrambled to his legs, and began to make his way towards Zephyr, was distracting the Pokemon who finally reveals itself in a storm of snow and wind.

"Articuno! It's here!" Mack gasped, failing to get himself out of the snow. Belinda helped pull him out while staring at the Legendary bird.

"Can your Pidgeotto distract it long enough?" Mack asked urgently. "Quick, get the ball out, get it out!" He shouted urgently at Min, who struggled to even get her/his hands into the bag. Articuno's eyes blazed a deep red, heating up in a deathly-glow, along with a bright-blue ball of light that was forming within it's grey-beak.

_I don't get it... Dad said that it only defends itself. Unless it's defending something else..._ Articuno aimed it's head towards the group.

"FeatherDance!" Falkner bellowed.

A faint screech, and suddenly a blur of brown and red zoomed right across Articuno's head, followed by a storm of feathers that began to whip and spin all over the place around the Ice bird as it was powering it's ice-beam. Confused by the sudden array of feathers flying literally into it's eyes, Articuno turned away, and released it's ice-beam out into the sky. The icy-beam shone like ice in the sunlight, dazzling and bright, and brief. Once it faded out, the ice bird gave out a shrill cry, seemingly making more snow appear out of nowhere.

Pidgeotto made it's way back towards Falkner, who cheered for his bird Pokemon's last-second rescue.

"My turn!" Mack was holding a strange Pokeball in his grip, and he pushed his way past Falkner. "Our proto-type Pokeball, that absorbs all ice from a Pokemon!" Mack waved the Pokeball at everybody.

"Just throw the damn thing at it already!" Belinda shouted. Blinking and realizing what was at stake here, he quickly turned around, and threw the Pokeball. At first Falkner feared that the ball would drift off into the wind, but it opened wide, creating a bright glow almost as bright as Articuno's ice-beam, and bright beams of light shot out of it, stinging at Articuno's wings. The icy bird's piercing eyes glared at the Pokeball, and gave one beat of it's magnificent wings.

Only that was enough to send the Pokeball flying away, lost out in the snow. Mack stared, dumbfounded.

"Was that your plan?! Just use that oh-so-special ball and just catch it like that!? You have to weaken it first, you idiot!" Belinda roared as furiously as the wind, and whacked the man's head. Mack yelped, rubbing his head.

"I said it absorbed ice, not wind! Kid, get your Pidgeotto to- uh oh!" He stared wide as Articuno made a low growling screech, and was diving right towards everybody.

"Duck!" Belinda pulled both Mack and Min down, while Falkner remained standing, staring into Articuno. The ice bird narrowed it's eyes, spreading it's talons wide open, and hurled forward in a dive-attack.

"Mirror move." Falkner, this time, didn't have to shout. Out of the blue, once again, the far-smaller Pidgeotto bounded out of the snow-filled skies out of seemingly nowhere, and created the exact-same powerful blast of wind that Articuno has made. The ice-bird screeched as it was buffeted out of the way by the far-smaller bird.

"Plan B, everybody. Get back into the cave!" Belinda shot a glare at Mack, before pulling the rope along. "Oh, this plan is full-proof, he says! I just need someone to escort me, he says!" Belinda growled, throwing her arms up in the air. Falkner wasn't paying attention, he was barely keeping up with the other three. When he turned back to Articuno, he found that Zephyr was having a hard time getting out of the spinning snowy-vortex that the Legendary bird has made.

"He's in trouble!" Falkner pulled at the rope, urging everyone to stop.

"Soon we'll all be in trouble if we don't get back into the cave!" Mack retorted just as loudly. Falkner gave him a venomous glare that made Mack shrink back in shock that such a pretty face could become so bone-chilling, and turned to Belinda, hoping that she'd change the gym leader's mind.

The immense ice-bird shot up into the dark skies and out of sight, but not without plucking Pidgeotto from the very sky and into it's beak, hauling him along with it. Widening his eyes but with no sound coming out, Falkner struggled against the rope to follow after Articuno, but it was three out of one, and he was pulled back.

Turning back around and pulling at the rope, his vain pulls almost turned into begging, until something shot out and suddenly snapped the rope apart. It was a spark of electricity, but as Falkner got back to his feet to see where it came from, whatever it was, it was gone. His other group members disappeared, cowardly hiding away back to the caves. Frowning and hardening himself against the blizzard, he made his away towards the other direction in where the ice-bird took his Pidgeotto.


	3. Tres

_How's the weather, Articuno? Oh god, not the icicles, gaahh! _

_Not my Father's Pokemon, not my father's Pokemon! Please be alright, Zephyr! _He pleaded in his head, ignoring the cold sinking through his thick coat. A shiver made it's way up and down his spine, and his legs almost wobbled as he trudged forward stubbornly.

_Keep moving, keep moving! _He forced himself onwards, muscles burning under the strain of moving through the snow that was well over his knees.

After what almost felt like an eternity of relentlessly being pummeled by snow, it was almost as if he fell out of a storm. Quite literally. Not noticing the steep cliff, Falkner had little time to react before finding himself falling. Rolling across the snow as he fell, he tried to get a grip on what little surface he could cling to. Soon he just started rolling down uncontrollably, and his pants of effort turned into shouts of pain as he felt his hands and knees cut into jagged rocks beneath the snow.

Suddenly his back was greeted with the painful, yet real feeling of earth, and he felt the back of his skull smash painfully at the suddenly impact.

Lying there for a moment, taking everything in, his spinning head finally remembered to make his lungs breath. Coughing out a groan, Falkner dragged his aching, shivering body to sit up. The wind had stopped. The snow was in the form of white flecks, gently falling on his hair, where his hood had fallen to his back. Finding his cracked goggles irritating, he took them off and threw them away in frustration. Denying the racking pain, Falkner took a deep breath, then hauled himself up. He winced and breathed a murmur, then fell back onto the ground again, which had a very fine, thin covering of snow.

Letting out a grumble, he looked up, surveying his new surroundings. It was as if he was in a bigger inverted-snow globe. Turning away, he found the large steep cliff he had just fallen down from. Further from there, he could see the raging snow. In fact, the whole area he was in was a giant big tube, where the snow was spinning around. Up above him he could see the skies as clear and blue as ever.

"Eye... Of the tornado?" Managing a quiet mutter, he struggled to get back to his feet again. After a few attempts, he finally made it to his feet. His knees were scraped raw, and his hands were dripping with blood. He looked down to glimpse the fresh blood drip into the snow below him. He stared at his own blood. It was so deep, so bright in the snow-laden ground. Shaking his head and snapping out of his head-concussive daze, he finally remembered his reason for being here.

Zephyr.

Making a start, he began limping his way towards what he felt would be the center of the 'Eye' of this blizzard's tornado. It must be where Articuno took Zephyr.

It must.

He didn't even care when he found that he couldn't feel his hands, or feet. They had gone numb. An despite there being no cold winds and no harsh snow, he was growing colder with each step he took. Colder, slower, and paler. He could barely tell how pale he was getting, wearing gloves and everything. But the coldness was beginning to make his lips turn blue.

Struggling a few more steps, he widened his eyes as he found a single red feather among the snow. He reached down to pick it up, but not before hearing a gentle, familiar coo. Turning his head sharply towards the sound, he almost cried out in joy as he found his loyal Pokemon, lying flat, but moving, on the snow in a circle of strangle stones with carved-in symbols.

"Zephyr... Thank Arceus... Are you alright?" He offered a glad smile to his Pokemon, who replied with worried black eyes. Falkner appeared to be in worse shape than his Pidgeotto friend. Slowly standing up on it's feet, Zephyr bucked it's head into his bloodied fingers, nibbling his nails playfully to offer some comfort. He chuckled, just happy to have finally found his father's precious bird. But the reunion couldn't go on any longer.

"Where's Articuno?" His gentle eyes were stern once again, furious as a Fearow's. Darting his eyes around, he was wary that the ice-bird could come by any minute. His eyes wondered back onto the circle of stones with the strange carved symbols.

"What is..." His hands trailed along the surface of the stones, his curiosity over coming the constant pain.

Then there was that one particular cry again. The ice-bird was here. Pidgeotto stood it's ground, and even tried to leap into the skies to defend his trainer- but it was as if it had been slowed down, and couldn't beat it's wings fast enough to keep airborne.

Soaring down to meet the two, Falkner could finally see Articuno in all it's glory. It's beautiful tail danced like a shiny ribbon along behind it, sparkling with ice-cold snow flakes that glittered even without the light of the sun. It finally landed with surprising delicateness, it's eyes kept full-focus on Falkner. He returned the stare back defiantly. He didn't care if he was too injured to do anything, and he knew Pidgeotto didn't care that it was now too slow to move fas enough. He was going to face things head-on until the end.

It was then that things became even colder. Articuno's eyes blazed a scarlet-red now, it's eyes becoming far too bright to even look at. The icy titan made a low rumbling cry, and took one step forward, giving a light flap of it's sparkling translucent wings.

_They really do look like ice... _Falkner stared in absolute awe. The stone's symbols that surrounded him and his Pidgeotto also began to glow a bright blue.

_I'm really beginning to grow tired of glowing things... _Falkner forced himself to his aching knees, slowly making his way to a stand. Articuno suddenly craned it's neck back, and released a mighty screech, rumbling the very ground beneath him. Wobbling and falling over, the Gym leader kept his eyes up to watch what was happening to the icy bird, his body was becoming numb with how cold it was becoming. He began to shiver uncontrollably, and as he turned to see how his Pidgeotto was doing, he noticed that his companion, too, was shivering at the sheer cold.

Turning back to Articuno, he could see it burst into a bright white light- and then it literally leaped right towards Falkner and his Pidgeotto. Giving out a cry, he mustered up enough strength to jump and cover his Pidgeotto just in time before the exploding-ice-bird passed right through them.

His whole body began to burn; Not with intense heat, but with intense coldness. He thought he could literally feel his blood freeze into blocks of frozen red liquid, and his bones felt as if ice was growing all over them, hindering his efforts to move. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that the torment would end- and it did. He could handle no more, and faded into the state of unconsciousness.


	4. Cuatro

_Hell hath no flames, but a black hole of ice where though shall be..._

"You can't compare yourself to other Gym leaders, Falkner. They specialize in different Pokemon."

The young Gym Leader was seated at the very roof of his Gym, eyes glued to the skies, watching over both his Pidgeotto and Pidgey playing a game of 'Catch the feather'. Down below stood one of the Gym leaders that trained with him sometimes. She didn't take her eyes off of the Gym Leader on the roof.

"I'm not comparing myself to anything." Falkner replied calmly yet dismissively, hoping that she'd just loose interest and walk off somewhere else to train.

"You're always comparing yourself to your father. You're always comparing yourself to some other Gym Leader. I'm noticing how you over-train yourself and your Pokemon." She pointed out, one index finger facing upwards towards both his Bird Pokemon. "You're never pleased with yourself."

"That sort of happens when no matter how hard you try, you don't seem to get any better." Falkner's quickness to irritation was already settling in, and his eyes darkened at bitter thoughts of all the losses he's been through against other challenging Gym Leaders.

She felt a nudge, and stroked her Venomoth's wings that was perched on her back.

"Maybe you're trying too hard, have you ever thought of that? You're supposed to be as graceful as the wind- you _are _graceful, but the thing that's stopping you is trying to be something you're not. Don't try to be strong like other Gym leaders, like Lance or Clair, don't try to be like your father. Try to be who you are." Her voice was firm, stern; She wanted her voice to get through Falkner's head. He always had a tenancy to doze up into the clouds whenever he didn't want to listen to somebody. Falkner remained silent.

"Are you even listening to me?" She asked. Falkner let himself lay down on the roof on his back, staring up at a particular cloud in the sky. It was dark, but the outer sides of it were still a bright white.

"I never even wanted to be a Gym Leader." He muttered, not really wanting his voice to be heard.

"Then why did you become one?"

Silence.

"...So dad would be proud of me."

The lady below placed a hand on her hip, leaning to one side, offering a hopeful smile.

"I'm sure he'd be even more proud of you if you did what you wanted to do, instead of doing what you think would make your father happy. Try to be you, not somebody else."

Falkner remained silent. All his life, he strived to be just like his father, and he can't even do that right. What hope did he have of becoming what he was?

There was a gentle brush of fur he could feel on his left cheek, and the memory faded from his mind as he realized that he could open his eyes once more. He was baffled to find himself alive; He was expecting to at least be completely frozen into a block of ice- but he was just covered in bits of snow. As he slowly sat up, he found that he was in the exact same place as he was when he passed out due to the sheer cold- the stones circling around him were no longer glowing with the strange symbols, in fact, the stones had completely vanished.

He heard a soft little "Chu!" near him, and he turned around to find a Pikachu, standing right in front of him. It's right ear twitched, wide black-brown eyes greeting him with a cheerful wave of it's oddly-shaped tail.

"A Pikachu...?" Falkner leaned forward to examine the little yellow mouse. Giving another friendly little chirp, the Electric mouse darted forward on all fours, approaching a very still Pidgeotto. Staring with wide eyes, Falkner quickly staggered towards his fallen companion, but he quickly winced and fell to his knees right before it.

His whole body was stinging and tingling with a strange kind of coldness. He felt numb, and he couldn't stop shivering. Ignoring how cold he was, assuming he was just suffering from Hypothermia, he scooped up the Pidgeotto in his arms. His Pidgeotto was almost as cold as he was- but he sighed with relief as he could feel the little heart beat of his companion, and his Pidgeotto even uttered the smallest of chirps, still sounding like a beautiful chime rustling in the wind. Falkner offered a smile with his cold blue lips, stroking his Pidgeotto's red crest feathers, but it was then that he paused.

Looking closer, he could see that one of the strands of feathers upon Zephyr's head was not the usual red, but a plume of icy-blue. He narrowed his eyes and lifted the feather, staring at it further. He began to recall the battle he had with the Articuno, and how his other group members fled like cowards.

His relief quickly turned into concern. What did this mean...

With the sound of another cute little chirp, Falkner almost forgot that the little yellow Pikachu was still around.

"Chu!" It waves it's zig-zagging trail around, and started scuttling off across the snow. Falkner watched the Electric mouse, blinking. The Pikachu turned around, beaconing him to follow with a spark of electricity from both the red sacks on it's cheeks. Wincing as he finally got himself to a stand, he noticed how the blood all over his hands and knees were completely dried frozen, and he was no longer bleeding. The coldness made it far more harder for him to move.

But slowly, and surly, he made his way towards the Pikachu, who hopped across the snow, making perfectly rounded holes, leading him safely across the desolate mountains. To his relief, it seemed that all of the snow-storms had run out of fuel since the last big one. Keeping a firm, yet gentle grip on Pidgeotto who nestled into his arms, Falkner made sure not to ever let his companion go no matter what.

After what felt like hours of slow-paced walking, Falkner only now just realized that it was night time. Looking up above, the only source of light that lit his way across the mountain was the stars and the glowing crescent moon. Looking back down again, Falkner stopped dead on his tracks, and suddenly began to panic. Where did the Pikachu go?

He quickly calmed down as he finally glimpsed it's yellow and black ears. The Pikachu popped up from underneath the snow, then dived back down into the snow again.

"What..." Falkner made his way towards the spot, then placed one foot over where the Pikachu jumped down- and that was enough to send him falling down the sink-hole of snow. He stumbled down, falling shakily on his feet, while squeezing Pidgeotto close to his chest in hopes to keep him safe. Opening his eyes when he noticed he had them shut, Falkner looked around to find that Pikachu was standing right in front of him, both it's red cheeks glowing with a few yellow electrical sparks to light the way in the dark cave. With another small friendly chirp, the Pikachu turned around and trotted away, leading Falkner deeper into the darkness.

Taking one last glance up above to see the compact of snow he fell through, he sighed, having no choice but to trust this strange Pikachu. What was a Pikachu doing around in Mount Silver, anyway? It was then he remembered another flash of memory. But he held it back. He didn't want to be so quick with assumptions. Maybe he was just hallucinating all of this, after all. He shook his head, not wanting to think about it. He had to get out of the mountains, and somehow find help for his Pidgeotto.

It felt strange to Falkner, being led into the silent darkness through Mount Silver by a little electric mouse Pokemon. With the only sound being his slow painful foot steps, he felt the need to break the silence with something.

"So... Who's your trainer?" Falkner asked. The little yellow mouse twitched it's tail, then chirped in response.

"Pardon? Didn't quite catch that."

He chuckled as the Pikachu turned around to roll it's eyes at him, sending a gentle jolt of electricity towards his direction, but it dispersed before it could shock him. It has an attitude, that's for sure.

"Thanks for helping me out." Falkner spoke up again. He cleared his dry, freezing throat- it was even too painful to speak, his throat burning with such coldness. The Pikachu shook it's head, pointing it's tail up to his Pidgeotto.

"Hm? Oh, you're helping Zephyr here, too?" He looked down at his Pidgeotto, who slowly began to stir, eyes fluttering open. Falkner hoped that his Pidgeotto would make it. No, he knew Zephyr would, he was the toughest Pidgeotto he knew.

It was then Falkner could see something in the distance. It was the cave exit! Almost laughing with giddy glee, he clumsily made his way towards the exit. The Pikachu had to move out of the way for Falkner, who released a sigh of absolute relief as he was finally freed from the cave, and entered the moonlight night of outside. Without giving a second thought, he could already see the Pokecenter that was near the foot of Mount Silver, and his rushed walks soon turned into a sprint. But a thought crossed his mind, and he abruptly stopped on his tracks, and turned his head around to thank the Pikachu who showed a short-cut to the way out- but instead, he saw something else.

Instead, in the distance near the entrance of the cave, he could see a young man kneeling down, gently stroking the cheerful little yellow mouse in his gloved hands. Suddenly stopping, the boy looked up from the Pikachu, and turned around to face Falkner.

Falkner froze over. The young man had deep red eyes, and dark hair.

"It's you..." Falkner murmured and tried to take a step forward, but his constant shivering began to take as turn for the worse, now trembling under his own weight. The red-eyed boy smiled and gave a light nod. His Pikachu did the same and even gave a wink. The two both disappeared into the blackness of of the cave, the boy's hands in his pockets. The last thing Falkner could see were those red eyes.

At first he wasn't sure what to do- but on hearing the sound of his companion's gentle coos, he shook his head.

_We'll think about the illusion later... _

Falkner made his way to the Pokecenter.


	5. Cinco

_Honestly, who hires these nurses anyway?_

The nurse gave out a sigh. It was in the middle of the night, and nobody was in here. She wasn't sure why the person in charge of this clinic just closed this place for the night already so she could have a decent rest herself. She wasn't used to seeing so many trainers with such injured Pokemon, having just started working here yesterday.

She relaxed back down on her chair, and pulled out a book hidden behind the counter she was sitting at. She suddenly jumped she heard the whirring noise of doors sliding open.

_Oh great, another trainer who's probably going to brag about taking down a Sneasel, or an Onix or... What?! _

The first thing she noticed was the injured young man with smoky-blue hair and sky-blue eyes, staggeringly making his way into the clinic.

_Now why can't we have more cute Trainers like that coming here more often? _She put up her prettiest smile, and waved to the Trainer, who she noticed was holding an injured Pidgeotto. The closer he walked, the wider her eyes grew. The boy's skin was completely pale and white, and he was shivering from head-to-toe. His hands and elbows were covered in dry blood, and his knees looked absolutely ruined in dry blood as well, the fabric of his pants completely torn around the knees.

_Where the hell has this guy been to?_

"H-hello... Can you please heal my Pidgeotto?" Falkner carefully placed the Pidgeotto on the table. He stroked his Pidgeotto carefully, trying to whistle a soft tune to calm it down, but his lips were too dried and cracked by the constant wind to even make a simple tune. He fumbled around with his pockets until he could finally pull his Pokeball out, and returned Pidgeotto into his ball, then handed it over to the nurse.

The nurse stared at him, then his bloodied hands, then at the Pokeball being held by his bloody hands.

Shaking her head and putting a cheerful smile back on her face, she grabbed the Pokeball carefully, and placed it on the healing machine, and started it up. The Pokeball began to gleam with healing energy.

"Do you need help yourself?" She asked, slowly turning back to the injured trainer. He gave a gentle smile to her, and shook his head.

"No thank you, I'm alright." He exhaustedly leaned against the counter, holding onto his head. He blinked as if trying to get images out of his head.

"Wait a minute..." The nurse stared at the trainer. The young trainer returned the stare.

"Hm?"

Another long moment of silence.

"You're Falkner! Violet City's Gym leader!" She almost squeaked. The healing machine made a 'Bing' noise to let everyone know that it was finished.

"Yes, yes I am." Falkner muttered not-so-proudly, then held his hand out to take his Pokeball back from the nurse.

"Oh no, please stay right here, you're in urgent need of attention! I'll call help for you!" She almost began to hyperventilate, a cute Gym Leader, right here, looking like he was about to die, and here she was, the only one running the clinic at this time late at night! She needed to do something! But before she could grab at the nearest phone on the counter, Falkner reached his hands out and grabbed onto her wrist.

She drew back from him, trying to pull her arm away. She shivered at his touch. He was as cold as ice itself.

"Y-you're so cold..." She whispered, staring between him and the phone.

"Please. I'll be out of your hair if you just give me my Pidgeotto back." Falkner said slowly, carefully, trying not to get the scared nurse even more into a big panic.

Eventually the nurse nodded, holding back the urge to scream for help. Slowly letting her go, Falkner watched her with cold, harsh eyes.

She plucked the Pokeball from the machine, and slowly handed it to Falkner.

"Thank you. Have a nice day." He turned around, holding the Pokeball like it was some kind of precious jewel, close to his chest, keeping it safe from harm.

The nurse watched the Gym Leader head for the exit. Her hand slowly lowered until it touched the phone. Suddenly Falkner completely collapsed. Giving out another squeak, she pulled the phone and pressed it hard against her ears, and furiously dialed away with shaking fingers.

Falkner heaved a quiet little huff.

_I just had to get a newbie nurse, didn't I... _He rose back to his feet, and quickly rushed out of the Pokecenter, ignoring hearing the Nurse's words. He didn't care who she was calling, he didn't want to get any kind of attention. Sure he was probably suffering from Hypothermia and blood-loss, but it sure was better than having a bunch of needles and other Hospital equipment stuffed in his body. He murmured a struggled breath, and opened up the Pokeball to release his Pidgeotto.

He smiled, watching his Pidgeotto flap and fly freely in the air, all good as new, no longer suffering from being frozen. But a shred of concern darkened his eyes. That one little ice-blue feather was still there in the bird Pokemon's crest.

"Come on Zephyr, let's fly." Despite his worry, he still couldn't help feel cheerful for his Pidgeotto. As Zephyr hovered in midair to turn to Falkner, he offered concerns for his trainer.

"Don't worry about me. One warm bath, and I'll be just fine." He gave a reassuring nod. Zephyr eyed him suspiciously. It knew it had no choice but to take him back to Violent City, but he was going to make sure that his Trainer was going to taken care of whether he liked it or not. Spinning around in the air, creating a small spinning vortex of wind, Zephyr gave a powerful flap of it's wings, sending Falkner flying up into the sky.

He gave out a cheer as he flew. Zephyr flew alongside him, flapping his wings, creating platforms of air just below Falkner.

The Gym leader grinned, leaping from platform to platform created by his Pokemon, swiftly making their way across the sky. This little trick, which he liked to call "Sky Jumping", was one of the many tricks he'd teach the aspiring trainers who trained at his Gym. They were more notably for trainers who's bird Pokemon were far too small to be ridden on, such as Pidgey and Spearow, but he knew that their power over wind could be strengthened enough to send even the heaviest of people flying. Bird Pokemon may be small, but what makes up for their small size, is their strength behind the manipulation of wind and air.

Every now and then his body would tense up and he'd almost loose his next flowing platform of air created by his Pidgeotto. His legs would sometimes shiver too much and he'd forget how to move them properly. Zephyr gave him nudges of wind to keep him up, which Falkner was grateful for.

Their traveling was soon coming to an end when he could see Violet City in the distance. It was quite a humble City now that he thought about it; especially compared to the bigger Cites such as Goldenrod, that he could just glimpse near the Horizon. As he craned his neck towards the other direction, he could see the thin streak of light emerging in the Horizon. Morning was approaching. If he could make it to the city in time without anybody noticing him, he could slip into his Gym, clean himself up, and pretend that his visit at Mount Silver never happened.

For the mean time, anyway. He still needed to recover after the strange events with Articuno. What exactly happened there?

_And where did it go... I swore I saw it explode... _He shook his head, getting his mind back on track. The land was making a quick approach, and he prepared himself to land. Leaping off of the last platform of wind, he landed gently on the ground with the help of a soft breeze of wind. Pidgeotto chirped as if cheering for the touch down.

"Good job, Zephyr. Quick, let's get back befo-"

Suddenly his Pidgeotto began to screech instead of it's usual bell-like chiming coo, flying all over the place.

"Sshh! Do you want everybody to wake up?" Falkner groaned and slapped his forehead in frustration as Zephyr gave him a look of pure mischievousness.

"Look, look, I know you want me to get help and have these injuries looked at, but I can do that myself! I can take care of myself!" He raised his hands, trying to call Zephyr down, who straight-out ignored him and went on trying to wake up nearby houses they were at.

"That's it!" Knowing very well that Zephyr hated being caught in it's Pokeball without his permission, he swiftly thew the ball up at the Bird Pokemon. Narrowing it's eyes and scoffing, the Pidgeotto whacked the Pokeball away with it's right wing, sending the Pokeball straight back at Falkner, who grabbed onto the Pokeball, who began to twitch with burning frustration.

"You stupid bird, get in the damn Pokeball-"

His words were cut short as he found that a few people who were having an early-morning stroll around the street took notice of him having a mini-war with his Pokemon.

Soon the staring turned into murmurs, then cheers.

"Falkner's back!"

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"Who of the what now?"

"Will you all quiet down?! I'm trying to sleep here!"

Falkner let out a low grumble, shooting a menacing glare at his companion, who flicked it's crest at him, chattering a snicker.


	6. Seis

_That badass moment when you beat the living day-lights out of something fifty times bigger than you._

With great stubbornness and refusal to have anybody see him, he quickly shut himself away inside his Gym by the time morning arrived. It wasn't only the place where trainers were to train in his Gym, it was also his home. Standing inside the bathroom, he was wrapping bandages around his hands, having just finished cleaning the dry blood off his skin from his knees, and wrapping fresh bandages around them. His Pidgeotto was perched at the side of the bath tub he had recently come out of. He wondered what happened to Mack, Belinda, and Min, but his thoughts quickly wondered elsewhere.

"There. It's like it never happened, Zephyr." Falkner examined himself in the mirror, before turning to his Pidgeotto, who gave a cheerful little coo. Like always, his blue hair would always be covering his right eye like curtains. He blew the strands of hair out of the way, but they quickly fell back over his eyes again.

"Well, as soon as I put a shirt on, anyway... I could barely wrap bandages around my back. I'd get some help, but..." He trailed off, then frowned. His hands were still as pale as ever, and he was still shivering slightly, even when he just came out of a hot shower. "I don't need help. Never felt better." He grabbed at a shirt before hearing a rushed knock on the door.

"Leader Falkner-"

"Jimmy, like I said, just call my Falkner." He shook his head, chuckling at the young boy's effort at giving him such titles before his name.

"... Master Falkner!"

Falkner groaned, covering his face. This can't be good, whatever Jimmy had to say. The boy would frequently come and train at his gym- he had a little Pidgey, who he named 'Killer Bird'. A unfortunate name, but the boy nonetheless had talent, and potential.

"There's like, a reporter and some camera guy who wants to know stuff! We're trying to chase them away from the Gym, but they wont go away!"

There was a pause. Jimmy stood by the door.

"Master King Sir Falkner?" Jimmy went on. Suddenly the Gym Leader bounded out of the door, his shirt was still scrunched up in his fist furiously. His Pidgeotto swooped out of the bathroom next, fluttering up beside Falkner. Jimmy blinked.

"Are you going to go streaking? My mom says that's illegal!" Jimmy called out after the Gym Leader.

As Falkner made his way across his own Gym, he could see a few more loyal trainers at his Gym trying to chase some man with a camera and another person with a Microphone, probably out to nab some answers with some questions. Narrowing his eyes, he made his way towards the growing crowd. As everybody noticed his arrival, they all spoke his name in unison.

He was beginning to hate his name.

"Excuse, Gym Leader Falkner, do you think you could answer a few questions that everybody's wondering about? The whole city's going nuts over your sudden arrival! A whole week, you've been gone."

Their words were going right through Falkner, and he barely picked up on what anybody was saying. But after the question was asked, the crowd of curious trainers went silent, expecting an answer from him.

"A week? I disappeared for a week?" He queried.

"Everyone thought you were dead! What happened, where did you go? How do you feel? A Nurse had reported that you were suffering hypothermia, have you visited a doctor?"

_Blah, blah... Here's an answer for you. _

Falkner raised a hand. Everyone went silent. He then clicked his fingers. A few seconds later, a gust of wind shot out of the blue, sending both the reporter and the camera man were sent flying out of the Gym.

"Hey uh, Falkner? What did happen?" A curious trainer asked.

"Nothing. I just went on a little trip for a week." Falkner turned away, finally managing to slip a shirt on. He could of sworn he heard a few girls going 'Aww' as soon as he put the shirt on.

"Then why were you confused when the reporter said that you've been gone for a week?"

"Let's leave him alone guys, he probably just wants some space." Another trainer said, who had a Hoothoot perched comfortably on his shoulder.

"Thank you, everyone. Resume with your training."

"Master Prince King Sir Maharajah your majesty-"

Falkner shot a stern look to Jimmy, who was scuttling on his short little legs up to the Gym leader.

"Jimmy..." He exasperated, but the little boy went on with a grin of admiration.

"Hey, some trainers around here are really skeptical of how you can handle the gym with just a Pigeotto and a Pidgey!" Jimmy was hopping up and down now, then pointed both of his accusing fingers over to a few nearby trainers.

One of the accused trainers decided to own up.

"Well, I've explored around just about every gym, from Goldenrod City to Blackthorn city, and I have to say that yours is the least impressive." The trainer, surprisingly enough, was a young girl that appeared at least fourteen or older. The first waves of frustration seethed into Falkner's mind, as he recalled his status as a Gym Leader. Never exceeding his best, never getting further up. Always stuck being the same.

Thankfully enough, his Pidgeotto chirped gently into his ear, as if whispering to snap out of it. Eyes fluttering, he took a glance at his companion gratefully, then turned to the young Trainer.

"You're quite the young traveler, then." Falkner raised his lips into a sugared smile, his eyes gentle and serene as a Spring breeze, causing half the trainers that were girls to either exasperate at his cheesy charm, or to almost literally swoon over him.

The young trainer smirked, then pulled out a Pokeball from her pocket.

"Shall I show you just how much traveling I've been up to? The only badge I need is The Rising Badge and yours- but I thought I'd warm up with you and your little birds."

_Oh, a tough trainer, eh? This should be interesting._

"Don't count your Pidgeys before they hatch." Falkner could only chuckle at the girl's seemingly arrogant behavior- or perhaps she just wanted to look impressive in front of the gathering crowd of trainers who've come to watch the beginning fight.

"We'll see about that. The name's Lily, by the way. Terrosa! Come out and rumble, baby!" She threw her Pokeball. With a flash of colours, a hulking frame began to form within the bright silhouette. As the Pokeball closed off and returned back to Lily, her smirk widened into a grin as her Pokemon finally appeared.

A massive Onix. That was really all there was needed to be said about her Pokemon.

_Well now, she certainly chose her Pokemon wisely before coming up against me, that's for sure. _Falkner shook his head while still keeping up that smile, and with a simple pointing gesture, Pidgeotto leaped off of his shoulders, and hovered in midair with both wings spread wide, staring the Onix down. Even the rock-snake appeared arrogant, rumbling a low laugh at the puny bird it was about to face.

_We handled an Articuno and survived, my friend. We can make do with a non-legendary such as this. _

Falkner clicked his fingers, and Pidgeotto darted into the air, just in time to avoid a rocky-tail of the Onix's.

"Terrosa! Don't rely on strength, focus on your aim! Rock throw!" Lily shouted.

_That's a strange choice of move, there are no rocks around for you to- oh._

Falkner watches as the Onix literally coughed rocks out from it's jaws, hurling them towards his Pidgeotto. With ease, his companion swooped out of the way with grace and beauty, causing almost everyone who was watching to cheer.

"Steel wing." Falkner uttered firmly. Without even giving an obeying nod, Pidgeotto swiftly dived down towards the Onix, literally becoming a blur of red and brown. The bird Pokemon's right wing hardened, almost shimmering like steel itself, the feathers glittering a metallic sheen- it was then, Falkner saw something else.

He could hear Articuno's scream as it exploded before his eyes, the icy-coldness that followed, stinging and burning his skin... It was then he realised that Pidgeotto's eyes gleamed a bright red for a moment. Somehow, for a second, he thought he was watching Articuno.

Pidgeotto sliced across the Onix's rock-body with pure ease, the sound of metal scraping across stone could be heard echoing across the whole Gym- as Pidgeotto soared to gain altitude, it's wings were still gleaming like steel- but as Falkner watched his companion further, he realized that dust-like particles, sparkling against the light, was swirling off of both his Pidgeotto's wing and tail. No, it wasn't dust, it was...

"Ice?" One trainer murmured under their breath, watching with a mouth hung open.

The Onix bellowed a roar of pure agony, the scar across it's body had done more damage than it had anticipated. The swirling bits of ice disappeared, as Pidgeotto returned to Falkner's shoulder, on noticing that the Onix had fallen, twitching and wincing at the incredibly deep scar that was cared onto it's skin.

"Terrosa! No!" Lily scrambled to her Pokemon's side, examining the wound. The Onix was shivering- it was too frozen to move. "Why are you..." Her eyes narrowed, her protectiveness over her own Pokemon began to blind her judgment.

"You cheated!" She snarled furiously to Falkner, who's eyes faltered a calming gaze. He shook his head, the smell of the cold wafted past his nose- but he knew he wasn't near any snow apart from his Pidgeotto's, and that disappeared.

"I told you not to count your Pidgeys before they hatched." Falkner didn't have enough time to facade his words, and already they came out cold and harsh. Lily looked hurt- but it was soon completely over-come by vengeance. She turned back to her Onix, gave it one last comforting stroke, then returned it back into her Pokeball.

She swerved around, facing Falkner. He watched her back, managing his keep his calm composure once more.

_Hm, she appears spoiled. She isn't used to loosing, it seems._

"I'll show you, cheater! Zay, come out and show this bird-nerd who's boss!" Pulling out her second Pokeball, lily tossed it forcefully.

_Good to see her tactics are on the right path. _

An Ampharos, it was; The glowing ball upon it's tail was already glowing brightly like a light-house.

"I have you now," She muttered, grinning. "Shock wave!"

_Now this may just be a problem._

Growling, building up energy, the Ampharos suddenly arched out as it's whole body was enveloped in nothing but electrically crackling and sparking off the ground near it, quick blaze of lightning shot out across the Gym battle field, traveling towards the Pidgeotto in a zig-zagging pattern, the bird Pokemon was hit hard by the bolt of electricity.

Falkner gritted his teeth, knowing how harmful that attack can be due to it's type, and he quickly retaliated.

"Quick attack!"

It may appear like a weak move, but Falkner had a plan. Shaking off it's previous attack, Pidgeotto snapped back into action, and dived down with an almost impossible amount of speed. But as Pidgeotto dived down, the snow appeared again. A faint aura of light-blue completely vieled his Pidgeotto.

_Oh no, not again..._

His Pidgeotto bashed right into Ampharos- hard. The Light Pokemon wavered, dazed. How did such a weak attack get the better of the tough Pokemon?

"Hit'em with another shock wave!" Lily shrilly ordered, until she realized that the place in which her Ampharos was hit began to cover over with icicles. She widened her eyes.

"No, Zay!" She sprinted to her Pokemon, who was shivering. Completely paralyzed in utter coldness. As she examined the icy wound of her Ampharos, her bright-red face filled with embarrassment and rage turned to face Falkner's.

"Someone will hear about this! Everyone, Falkner is cheating! There is no possible way that Pidgeotto is capable of doing anything like this!" She took one last look at her injured Pokemon. As much as it tried to move, it just couldn't. The coldness was too much.

"Hey, she's got a point... Do you have a hidden second Pokemon, Falkner?"

"Are you kidding? He's just a cool Gym leader, that's all!"

"Wow, that Pidgeotto's wacko, ya get ma drift?"

"Mister Master Sir King Lord your honour Emperor-"

Though the rising crowd of questions began to roll onto Falkner, he was too fixated on the coldness that's been inflicted onto him. At first the cold was distant, like a nightmare you just shook out of your head- but it was back once again, and his body was beginning to quiver, his eyes relentlessly darting from side to side, suspicious of even the slightest bit of movement.

As the voices started to amplify in both numbers and volume, Falkner began to back away. It was then his whole body felt as if it was frozen into a block of ice- and he found himself unable to move. Only able to move his eyes, he watched as the inside of his gym began to blur, and turn into a a snowy landscape. The rising voices of the trainers turned into mounds of snow, piling up like autumn leaves, whilst the snow began to fall from the ceiling until there was not one thing he could recognize.

Just this cold waste land.

In the distance, he could hear a very distinct call. It started off as a low rumble, then abruptly ended with a loud squawk-like screech. Articuno's cry.

Gasping in alarm, Falkner stumbled backwards, causing his Pidgeotto to flap it's wings to keep his standing in balance. The trainer's voices faded into low whispers. Falkner turned to them.

"Excuse me..." He managed to mutter though a tongue made of rock for the time being, then rushed away, his Pidgeotto eying him with concern.


	7. Siete

_Hell hath no fury like an angry bird-mother_

_What on Johto did Articuno do to my Pokemon..._

Falkner quickly departed from the Gym's main place, retreating to the back, where his own private living quarters were. Zephyr was on Falkner's shoulder, nibbling at his hair playfully. He smiled and petted his companion's head, appreciating the comfort. He frowned as he felt Zephyr's feathers. They were cold.

_His feathers were always warm..._

"Well, it's been a week. Were we frozen into a block of ice for a whole week? That would explain why I'm still freezing..." Falkner rubbed his shoulders, feeling another shiver. He tried to put his mind off of the vision he just saw- or hallucination. Whatever it was. Pidgeotto ruffled it's feathers, appearing to be perfectly healthy. Falkner smiled gratefully- at least companion appeared perfectly healthy. He couldn't really say the same for himself, of course.

He took a deep breath before he spoke. His throat was cold and dry, despite being in a rather warm room at the moment.

"I might have to take you to Professor Oak later, my friend. I know he's an expert on Kanto Pokemon. Plus I don't think you're supposed to have a blue feather like you do, he might be able to figure out what's going on with that. I'd take you to a Pokecenter, but... We might get another awkward moment there."

The Pidgeotto cocked his head, eying Falkner. The gym leader frowned.

"Now I know I refused to find help for myself, but it's my job to take care of you." He said firmly. Zephyr squawked, jabbing his forehead gently with it's beak.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. There probably is something wrong with my head. I can't shake this coldness off... I knew what Articuno was capable of and what it was like, but... This is all new to me." His eyes wandered off to peer outside a window. Zephyr tilted it's head, watching Falkner intently. He looked back to his feathered companion.

"So, you ready to go?" He asked.

His Pidgeotto replied with a soft coo.

"To the Professor it is. Let's give you a check up." He grinned as Zephyr eyed him blankly, not really agreeing with his decision.

Sneaking out a door that was rarely used to exit the Gym, Falkner made sure he was as discreet as possible. He could hear a growing crowd of chattering people outside his Gym on the other side. Just hearing voices made him feel sick, now. He hated attention. Being known. Being challenged day after day.

Although it was nice that he didn't loose for once, he knew it was only because of Articuno's doing.

"Let's go, Zephyr."

Without directing his Pidgeotto, the Pokemon knew what he meant. Flapping his wings and creating a gust of wind just beneath him, Falkner was sent flying into the air. Jumping across platforms of air, the two began to usual Sky Jumping routine again.

"It's going to take a while to get there, we may need to stop at a few places to rest, as well." Falkner said, as they flew up higher and higher.

He always felt like he belonged in the air, rather than the ground more. On the ground you were limited to what you could see, and everything was always so much bigger and more daunting. But in the skies- Falkner almost giggled with glee, as he could even see Mount Silver in the distance at this height they were going.

He would have to at least pass nearby Mount Silver to reach Kanto, so he was going to make sure to avoid that place at all costs.

"You know, if you were a Pidgeot, you'd probably just carry me there in one go, being big enough." Falkner said, his easy breathing turning into a slight pant. His Pidgeotto chirped apologetically.

"No, no, it's fine. I know you like to stay the way you are." Falkner shook his head quickly, leaping off of another platform of created air.

Zephyr watched Falkner carefully. If the Bird Pokemon was honest with himself, he was afraid to change because he thought he might be different to Falkner as well. Being different can be scary- sure it has it's good points, but every good thing comes at a price. His Pidgeotto was stuck as much as Falkner was, in terms of change. But for very different reasons. But now Zephyr is changing anyway- it felt colder, and stronger. But the cold almost felt like home, to it. He was afraid of what he was becoming, but at the same time, it almost felt like it was right. As long as he wasn't different to Falkner, he honestly believed that any difference would be fine.

"How long do you think it'll take for them to realize that I'm not at my Gym anymore?" Falkner asked with a slight grin. Zephyr chirped an amused chuckle. Falkner's grin faded when he felt something soft stinging at his bare arms. He glanced down at the platforms of air he's been jumping across one by one, and noticed that particles of snow were appearing around the air.

_It's happening again... _

"Zephyr, can you control all this snow you're making?" Falkner asked with concern. His companion shook it's head, it's crest rustling as he did.

"But you're feeling fine, right?"

Another confirming nod.

"Well, we might as well just go with it. Flow with the wind. Dance with the ice and roll with the lightning, right, my friend?"

He smiled hopefully and turned to watch his bird Companion, but something made him stop. Pidgeotto's eyes were meant to be a pure jet-black. But Zephyr's right eye was...

"Red?" He muttered. Completely forgetting that he was meant to be jumping, he ended up falling right through the platform of air he was supposed to be jumping off of.

Falkner was falling and spinning out of control, and yet he still did not feel panic. He learned a long time ago that being afraid of heights was pointless when you stick with Bird Pokemon all the time.

Pidgeotto swooped down, calling out in alarm, as Falkner was trying to get his balance back. But every time he tried to move, the wind kept on reminding him of the cold, and the cold kept on reminding him of how he almost froze to death, causing his body tensed up, refusing to move.

"Make a soft landing, Zephyr!" He shouted through the wind rushing past his face, while Zephyr was squawking in dismay before Falkner roughly fell onto something.

Grunting, he fell right in the middle of a nest. His clothes scraped across a cluster of sharp thorns, the nest being lined with brambles, though thankfully enough the spot he fell onto was still soft with dry grass.

His Pidgeotto squawked in alarm, diving in to get Falkner out of there.

"Wait, stop." Falkner held his hand out to his Pidgeotto, who obeyed him, and remained hovering just inches away from him in the air. His head turned towards a distinct shape in the bushes.

Being in a particularly sturdy tree in a particularly sturdy nest, he wasn't at all afraid of the height he was at.

Nearby, a Sneasel was nibbling on a cracked egg, licking at the golden yolk inside the spotted egg's shell. Falkner frowned.

"This is a Skarmory nest..." He murmured, viewing the brambles he's finally managed to pull his snagged shirt away from, now glaring darkly at the other Dark Pokemon, who gave him a wide stare. Pidgeotto was about to dive down to attack the Sneasel, but Falkner raised another halting hand.

"It's too late, the egg's dead. Let it enjoy it's meal."

Falkner knew that punishing the hungry Pokemon was just a waste of time- the Sneasel was just trying to get a meal. Gratefully stuffing the rest of the egg into it's mouth, it scrambled away into the trees out of sight.

"Let's take that Sneasel's example and get out of here, Zephyr. There's nothing madder than a mother who's lost an-"

His sentence was cut short by the shrill cry of a particular bird-like Pokemon.

"Oh great..." He muttered under his breath, turning around to find a very furious Skarmory mother, who's wings were flared, horrified at her discovery. Falkner has handled situations like this before, having done nothing but interact with Bird Pokemon all his life. But handling an angry mother, he was never really too good with.

"FeatherDance." Falkner uttered quickly.

Snapping into action, Pidgeotto zoomed across the Skarmory with wide-spread wings, feather flying all around it. Releasing a screech full of rage, the Skarmory leaped off of it's perch, leaving a deep scratch into the thick branch's bark, and dived for Falkner.

_She thinks I killed her egg. So much for having a peaceful journey to Professor Oak's lab... _Falkner was about to leap up and call for Pidgeotto's assistance, but Skarmory's quick attack got to him first, tackling him out of it's nest.

Grunting as he felt a deep scratch across his side, his hands scraped across the bark, attempting to stop himself from falling off. But another swift attack from the Skarmory delivered by it's beak sent Falkner falling.

He managed to grab onto the nearest branch, his hands stinging at the effort of carrying his weight with fingers digging into the sharp bark. Narrowing it's eyes, both of Pidgeotto's eyes gleamed a vibrant red, and he folded his wings back, diving towards the angry mother.

The Skarmory's form suddenly blurred, and it sped off towards Falkner again. Struggling weakly under his weight, he pulled himself up just in time to evade Skarmory's pecking beak. Panting, Falkner glanced around, trying to find the Skarmory as he heard it give out a screeching squawk, but it was nowhere to be found. Neither was his Pidgeotto.

"Zephyr. Zephyr?" He darted his eyes, studying the trees in alarm. Suddenly another screech, and he could see trees flying among feathers, and Skarmory was sent flying out from the trees. Falkner watched with widening eyes, and he could see a thin beam of light-blue, blasting into Skarmory's metallic chest.

The Skarmory smashed it's back into a hunk of branches and leaves, and the beam dimmed down into a breeze of snowflakes. Rumbling a weak grunt, the Skarmory took a step forward with it's shivering metal talons, as Pidgeotto flapped back into the scene. Both it's eyes were a piercing red. And the blue feather on it's red crest- yet another red feather has turned blue, appearing almost like shards of ice. Pidgeotto's beak opened wide, and a bright glow of blue was slowly forming within it's mouth.

"Zephyr!" Falkner shouts.

For just a split second as the Pidgeotto turned to Falkner, the Gym leader felt as if he couldn't recognize his own companion. Zephyr blinked both it's eyes- and it's left eye returned back too it's normal dark shade of black, while the right eye was still a bright, but not cold, red. Falkner was shivering just as much as the Skarmory, and as he attempted to climb back up the tree, the branch he was holding onto snapped, and he went falling.

A strong but cold gust of air sent Falkner flying up, and he was landed gently with another breeze of wind, onto the tree near the Skarmory and Zephyr.

Zephyr fluttered his way over to Falkner, and perched on his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek with it's feathery head. Falkner hesitated, before reaching a hand out to gently stroke his companion's crest.

"You... You did good, buddy." Falkner was staring into thin air. For almost a moment he was afraid that his own Pidgeotto would turn on him instead. Those eyes Zephyr had... So cold.

Sensing his friend's concern, Zephyr nuzzled Falkner again, cooing quietly. Falkner offered a warm smile.

"It's okay, it's not your fault. We'll find out what that Articuno did to you." He said. His Pidgeotto remained watching him. Falkner sighed. "Okay, what it did to us..." He added with a mutter. Zephyr ruffled it's feathers, pleased to hear Falkner finally admit that he too, was affected, and probably even worse than Zephyr was.

Turning back to the angry Skarmory, he watched the shivering weakened metal bird. It was too frozen to move.

"I'm sorry about your egg." Falkner bowed to the Skarmory, who was watching with him curious eyes. Nature can be rather hard, and even Pokemon, who live in it, can have a hard time accepting the tragedies of life.

"But you fought well... If you join us, you'll be stronger."

The Gym leader and the Skarmory stared at each other. Having over come it's shock at failing to protect it's egg, the steel bird's gaze lowered, and it folded it's wings in acceptance. Growing a dim smile, Falkner reached into his pocket, and pulled out a Pokeball.

"Well, I am a trainer, as well as a Gym leader. Time to do what a Trainer does." Ignoring the cuts and scratches made by the Skarmory across his body, he threw the Pokeball eagerly. It hit the Skarmory's neck, and the Pokeball snapped open, pulling the Pokemon's form inside the capsule.

Landing lightly onto the brown bark on the tree they were on, the Pokeball wriggled and budged, as the Skarmory was getting comfortable in the ball, or having seconds thoughts about getting captured.

After a moment of silence, she was caught. Without a single cheer or a shout, Falkner made his way across the tree and picked the Pokeball up, gazing into the object.

"Welcome to the team." He smiled, then turned to Zephyr, perched on his shoulder. "Well? What do you think? A Gym Leader could always use room for improvement, and I think I'm finally starting to see that it's actually possible. We just need a name for her..." He trailed off, tapping the Pokeball with a finger, pondering on names.

"How about... Eurus?" He said it clearly, loudly. Zephyr tilted it's head, not entirely sure what the difference was between a good name and a bad one.

"Well, at least you're not a critique," He chuckled, putting the Pokeball away. "Let's give our new friend a rest. Let's see, it's looks like we're on route 45, a little near BlackThorn city- so we're getting closer to where we're supposed to be going." He looked up to the sky- it looked like it was about morning, now.

"Let's get going, Zephyr."

His companion gave a firm nod, and the leaped into the skies, beginning their Sky Jumping routine yet again. His wounds didn't need attention- not yet, anyway. He plans to at least reach Johto's border to finally reach Kanto before taking a rest.

_Let's hope we don't run into anymore trouble... It seems the more Zephyr fights, the more he starts getting weird. Who knows what will happen next..._


	8. Ocho

_((Hoo boy, have I been on a giant break. So I went and broke the ice. Hahaaa! Oooh if there's a hell specifically for saying bad puns, I'm going there... I also appreciate the mistakes you've pointed out, xxxAceBlade! Once I get unbusy, I'll be able to track those errors down to correct them like a boss))_

_What a terrible steed, you make. _

_The little boy ran away, hiding behind the gym. He sat there, huddled in a corner, sobbing away into his knees. On hearing the light footsteps of his father nearby, he tried to stand up to run away. But his body would not move. _

"_Mind telling me what happened, Falky?" His father's voice barely gave him any comfort, as much as he wished it would. "They killed it, dad." He spoke with a quivery voice. "I couldn't stop them." _

"_Couldn't stop who? What happened?" The boy covered his face with his hands when his father sat down beside him, wrapping a comforting shoulder around him. _

"_A bunch of nasty Ratticates came and ate this poor baby Pidgey... It was helpless... It fell out of it's nest." The boy stuttered, in which his father gave a loud sigh, scratching his stubble. _

"_Come on kiddo, it is possible to die, you know. Those Ratticates were probably really hungry, they must have a family to feed too. Look kid, what I'm trying to say is, don't get all soft, alrighty? Things die, things live. Get with the cycle of life, come on." His father knew he probably shouldn't be blunt with a seven year old his wife would always complain to him about being gentle on children, but he knew the kid was mature enough, and at one point, they'll have to grow and take on that world prepared. Perhaps it was the sight that his boy had to see of that Pidgey being devoured was what reduced his son to tears, more than the actual death itself. _

"_I wish everything would live forever." The boy abruptly dug into his father's side, sniffling into his shoudlder. With that last statement, his father just chuckled, gently petting the boy's hair. _

After resting for the whole night just outside the borders of Johto, the first few rays of sunlight greeted Falkner for the coming of dawn. Having been leaning at the foot of a tree trunk with his head bowed, he bent his neck back to stretch as he got up to a stand.

On finally realizing just how cold it was, he turned his eyes around only to find that Zephyr was nowhere to be found. His first reaction was to panic, but instead, he took a deep breath and whistled through dried lips. Sure enough, down his bird companion swooped, circling around him just above his head. Chirping cheerfully, Falkner smiled back up to Zephyr. On further observing the Pidgeotto, he could see that it's bright red crest, each plume, has become an icy-blue. It's eyes were fully red- and the tips of it's wings looked as if somebody splashed a shade of blue all over the flight-feathers.

Gritting his teeth, cursing himself for sleeping for too long, he pulled a Pokeball out of his pocket.

_How could I do this? While I slept like a baby throughout the whole night, my friend's slowly turning into something else! _

He took one small glance at the Pokeball with his new Pokemon inside, and sighed, cooling his mind down.

_Ease up. Be as calm as the winds. And, let's check out our new friend, shall we? _Smiling faintly, he threw the Pokeball into the air, watching the spherical capsule explode open, the form of a Skarmory taking physical form right in front of him. The metal bird blinked and rattled it's armored feathers. It seemed to have recovered from the ice attacks that Zephyr has done to it over night. It was a good thing it was steel type, other wise it would have been a lot worse on the Pokemon.

_I better not have Zephyr do anymore flying for me, the more he does anything, the more he transforms... Let's see if Eurus over here is willing to give me a lift instead._

"Hello again, my friend." Falkner greeted the Skarmory, and offered a bow. Eurus cocked her head, eying Falkner. The large bird turned away from the Gym leader with utter disinterest.

Grinning, Falkner knew just how to get a Skarmory's attention. Striding confidently towards the bird, Eurus squawked and attempted to step away from Falkner, but his hands were already placed on it's beak.

Rumbling a growl-like sound, Eurus opened up it's beak in an attempt to snap at Falkner's hand, expecting him to pull away, but instead, it ended up biting into his hand. Hard.

Hiding his wince behind a grin that did not fade, Falkner remained still.

"Now, I trust you. Isn't that nice? Now wouldn't it be nicer if you trusted me too?" He asked. The Skarmory frowned, and pulled away from his hand. It completely turned around the other away, avoiding any eye contact with the trainer.

_Hm, a game of trust will certainly not work. Let's try a bribe. _

"Now what I do know, is that Skarmory's like yourself fancy big juicy Catterpies, yes? Well I happen to have some food that's even better right here." Falkner spoke loudly and innocently, patting his pocket. The Skarmory twitched it's head only slightly to look at falkner with just one eye. It was indeed quite hungry.

From afar, perched on a branch, Zephyr was watching the show. He knew when not to interfere.

"I bet you're hungry. Do you want food? I'll give you some." He offered, now digging his hands into his pockets. The Skarmory had now fully turned around.

Only to squawk, very loudly, into Falkner's face, before swerving around in an attempt to slap Falkner in the face with it's tail-blade. He ducked swiftly out of the way, his grin now widening even further.

_Don't want to lower your dignity as an Ex-wild Pokemon by accepting food from human, eh? Well, I think I'm beginning to pick up on what your nature might just be..._

He didn't want to try blackmail, but he might as well try.

"Alright then. If you don't allow me to ride on your back to get to Pallet Town, then I'll have Zephyr over there to turn you into a block of ice." He pointed firmly to his Pidgeotto- it's blazing red eyes pierced through the Skarmory's own eyes, but it was still not phased.

Instead, he pretended to yawn, and fluttered it's wings for a light stretch. Falkner should be loosing patience by now, but he had good practice in staying calm throughout most situations, even dealing with grumpy, pig-headed metal birds like this one.

_The trust-game? Nope. Bribery? Null. Blackmail? Not a flinch. _Falkner remained staring at the Skarmory, narrowing his eyes, the grin finally gone. _Ah, but there is just one thing left to do..._

Calmly preening the red feathers underneath it's steel wings, Eurus was actually enjoying tormenting it's new trainer by being as annoying as possible. Even though it was upset that it's egg has been taken and gone, that will not phase this bird's urge to have a little fun. Although when it comes to wanting "Fun", it probably should have been more specific.

Screeching loudly as Eurus could feel a sudden light-weight leap onto her back, she instinctively turned her head around in an attempt to bite whoever had clambered onto her- surprise surprise, it was her new trainer, grinning wildly while avoiding her jabs and pecks. Spreading her wings out wide, she leaped up into the skies, trying to buck Falkner off.

Zephyr, rolling it's eyes his trainer's new and silly idea, lifted up into the air next. He wont jump into the action until his friend tells him to.

"To Pallet Town, my friend!" Falkner lifted a finger in the direction of the town, while his other was firmly gripped on the rather slippery armor of the Skarmory's. Ducking from another pecking nip, he finally wrapped both of his arms around the bird's neck as tightly as possible.

Falling down through the sky in a dive, Eurus abruptly swooped upwards. Stomach lurching, Falkner only laughed with giddy glee, his grip had not loosened an inch.

Eurus huffed tiredly, already running out of energy. Then she formed an idea in her head. If a beak could grin, she would be. Flying up higher and higher, she flew off into the direction Falkner had instructed.

Zephyr followed warily behind, keeping up with ease.

"Good! Thank you, Eurus." Falkner petted the side of the Skarmory's armor, who ignored him with a single flap of it's wings to remain airborne. It wasn't too long until they finally arrived.

"Already here, time sure flies by fast. No pun intended. We're a little bit too high up though, do you mind flying a little lower, my friend?" Falkner asked cheerfully. Being high enough enough to fall down to the ground and become a flattened puddle of remains, Falkner considered this a normal view, to see what bird Pokemon see in the sky.

Eurus had another idea in mind. Folding up her wings, she remained still- and plummeted towards the earth below. Now spinning in the mix, Falkner was cheering and shouting in delight. Huffing, finally getting the idea that this trainer was just too crazy to be afraid of heights, she had another idea to get the human off.

Abruptly stopping in mid-flight, now hovering in midair, she swooped from side to side a few times, before completely rolling around until she was soaring upside down.

Slight metres upon metres high up from the ground, Falkner widened his eyes as he felt gravity pull him downwards. Sliding off of the Skarmory, all he could do was dangle helplessly onto the Skarmory's strong neck.

Glancing to the side to find Zephyr giving him a pleading look, he smiled and shook his head, then turned back to the Skarmory.

_Well played, Eurus. Well played. Let's try this._

He raised his hands- and let go.

Eurus had to admit, she did not expect her annoying trainer to allow himself to fall, she wanted to get him to drop by her own doing. She turned to Zephyr, expecting him to fly to the rescue- but he didn't fly. He just kept watching her.

The Skarmory turned her head to watch Falkner fall. He did not stop. Huffing, Eurus finally decided to escape from the Pidgeotto's blazing glare and folded her wings to dive down after Falkner.

He felt quite relaxed, now that he thought about it. Falling to his death quite possibly, sure, but the sensation of falling had always been quite an addiction for Falkner. Whenever he was little he'd take as many opportunities as he'd get to get up high in the sky, and fall, knowing he'll have a safe landing.

Maybe that's what made falling like a dream to him, because he always knew he had his friend to rely on. He decided to open his eyes- he decided to be more stupid and close his eyes just to focus on the feeling, rather than seeing. As soon as he did, he lurched forward, as the hard talons of something grabbed at the back of his coat. Craning his neck up, he smiled.

"Eurus! I knew I could trust you. It's b-"

The Skarmory let go of him, and he tumbled flat on the ground. Luckily the soft springy grass pillowed his fall, but his body still received a fair amount of ground-shock. Coughing grass out of his mouth, he frowned up at Eurus, who was chattering a laugh at the amount of grass that had accumulated in his hair.

"Very funny. Thanks anyway." He shook his head. Expecting to be punished by being sucked back into that uncomfortable Pokeball, the Skarmory was surprised to see that he simply just turned around and began heading down a direction.

Tilting her head, she followed after him.

Zephyr arrived after a little dive himself, and was now fluttering alongside Falkner.

"You can do and look anywhere you please, but stay close, you two. Especially you, Zephyr. I need to have you see an expert."

Stopping on his tracks and turning around, he finally remembered the first time he came to this town. He a kid of about nine, and he wanted to come with his father to aid professor Oak on handling the newly discovered bird Pokemon at Sinnoh. He smiled, remembering his father complaining and being confused about why everyone had classified Altaria as a Dragon type of all things. He then remembered Professor Oak responding by saying a friend of his complained at why Charizards weren't classified as dragon type, and they both laughed.

_It's still a very nice place, here... _Falkner's mind nearly wandered off into clouds, admiring the quaint houses and lovely trees and clean-cut bushes nearby accompanied by flowers and fine grass.

_If I remember correctly, the lab where Professor Oak should be right this way..._

He turned his head around at a few things, mostly Pidgeys that chirped and pecked at bits of bread people had kindly decided to throw to feed them. He watched the Pidgeys with particular interest, a memory triggering in his mind. He quickly turned around to focus on something else.

"Finally!" On noticing the building he was looking for quite nearby, he broke into a sprint. The rattle of armored feathers were closely behind him, and the flutter of cold winds near his left. The Lab, of course, still impressed him as it always did. It appeared to have also had a new paint job- or perhaps he just didn't remember what colour it was.

Panting and arriving at the door, he was about to open the door up- but somebody else from inside had opened it up before he got to.

It was a girl. Brown hair, warm green eyes. Casual clothes. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Oh. Hey there," She offered a genuine smile, spreading her fingers as a wave before yawning and rubbing her face.

_Oh right, it's early in the morning...Woops, hope I didn't wake anybody up._

"You're here for professor Oak, aren't you?" She almost looked disappointed. Falkner was a little lost. He opened his mouth to speak, and it took a moment for him to finally get his throat box to work.

"Yes, yes I am." He said, nodding firmly. The girl watched him with wide eyes. It now looked as if she was trying to hold back laughter.

"Sorry, he's not here at the moment. I'm looking after the building while he's away." She placed a hand on her hips, motioning towards the whole lab, then turned back to Falkner. Now it was his turn to look disappointed.

_What kind of lunatic would leave a girl in charge of an important building like his lab... Actually you know what, that is a very Professor Oak thing to do._

"Where did he go?" He was still struggling to form words to speak. He wasn't really sure why he was having such trouble. Until he began to feel the first few chills. Coldness was spreading across his very mind. It was coming back...

"He went with some other people to this newly discovered place. I think it's Called Kalos, or something. Poor Professor Oak, I think he needs to retire from looking for so many Pokemon. We just get Red to catch them all anyway, he's really good at it." She shrugged her shoulders up, smiling almost sadly. It was clear to see that she truly care for Professor Oak. But Falkner wasn't paying attention, he was too busy trying to get something out of his head.

Shivering, he slowly bowed.

"Yes, yes, alright, well. Thanks anyway." Rigidly attempting to turn around, he widened his eyes on hearing the echoing cry of Articuno. It was happening. Again. Another vision was coming. Flecks of snow was surrounding his field of vision- and the whole town of Pallet melted, and transformed into a pale while landscape of snow.

"Please go away, please go away, please go away..." He shook his head, blinked heavily, he even slapped his face. "Cold... So cold..." Falling to his knees in the soft white snow, he heard another cry from the Articuno. It was closer. Right behind him. No, wait, it wasn't Articuno. It was something else.

"Hey. Hey, are you okay? Snap out of it."

"Hhn...?" The snow melted away, and he was back to reality. But he was still cold. And for some strange reason, it felt comfortable. He could feel somebody shaking his shoulder. It was the girl. He was on his knees, blinking his eyes into focus. He looked up to the girl.

"I need to ask you something." Falkner said, rising to his feet.

The girl blinked, stepping away from him with a curious gaze. He was giving off a strange cold aura, it didn't only feel cold, but it felt almost as if she shouldn't be near him.

"Firstly, I need to ask you something. What are you doing here?" She crossed her arms, tapping a foot. Well, this girl was certainly no push-over.

"Here for Professor Oak-"

"I can see that, but why?" She cut in, a frown forming over those friendly eyes. Falkner sighed, rubbing his temples.

"There's no point, he's not here. And I'm running out of time." He was about to turn around, but the girl stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I may not be Professor Oak, but I'm as good as any professor when it comes to Pokemon. Is it help that you need? Just tell me."

Falkner sighed, standing still for a moment. For some strange reason he could be patient with Pokemon, but not people. Turning back around, he motioned towards his companion, who was perched on atop the roof of the lab. The girl turned around to see the Pidgeotto. Her eyes went wide.

"My friend needs help. Something happened."

Clouds were gathering outside. Falkner hadn't even noticed how the giant white puffs of white stuck up in the sky were slowly darkening into a dreary shade of grey.

"You look like you could do with something warm. Would you like a hot drink?" The girl offered, showing the Gym Leader to a place to sit at the lab. If he was going to tell the whole story from start to finish, he might as well get comfortable, she was saying.

"Yes please." He said, rubbing his hands together. Vapor was literally whispering it's way out of his mouth every time he spoke. The girl eyed him strangely, a little concerned. It wasn't even that cold- and what's more, she wasn't breathing vapor. Falkner quickly straightened himself up, as he sat down. Finally, a chair to sit down in. He gladly welcomed Zephyr to perch lightly on his shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, he began his explanation.

"I went on an expedition with a few other people, and this horrible blizzard started as soon as we got there. Apparently it was reported that Articuno was spotted there, and I had to go see it-"

The girl handed a hot cup of whatever was inside to Falkner.

"You're talking too quietly, speak up. All I got was something-something Articuno." She sat down at a chair nearby, preparing her to listen intently. Sighing, Falkner blinked as he felt his hands sting at the touch of the warm cup. He didn't know how to explain it, but he somehow he felt uncomfortable with how pleasantly warm the cup was. Shaking his head slightly, hoping it was just the shock of suddenly touching something warm after feeling so cold all this time, he lifted the cup up to his lips, and began to drink.

As soon as the warm soup reached his tongue, he immediately lurched forward, spitting it out. The girl stared. Falkner wiped his mouth, keeping his contact away from her, and roughly placed the cup onto the table beside him, and he covered his face, feeling another shiver coming on.

"I didn't know the soup I made was _that _bad." Despite being as shocked as she was, she managed a kind smile, and got off her chair. "Wait right here, I think there's a mop around here. Professor Oak wants this place to be spotless when he gets ba-"

"Stop," Falkner uttered. "Just... Stop." He lifted a single finger to the girl, who did as she was told. He took a deep quivering breath, then went on.

_I can't let this get into my head, I can't._

"Play the nice-maid later. What I need, is a decent explanation, in why the giant bird of Ice, Articuno, exploded right on top of both me and my Pidgeotto, which miraculously did not kill us. Ever since that day, weird things have been happening to me and Zephyr... Mostly Zephyr. Look at him, just look at him!" He gestured to his companion, who was calmly preening it's feathers. He paused as he noticed that his Trainer had pointed to him, and it cooed in question, tilting it's head.

"He's able to make ice now, , for crying out loud! It's as if he's transforming into another Articuno!" His voice was rising, until it broke and he ended up slightly choking on how dry his throat felt. It was burning with the cold.

"I need answers. _Now._" He slammed his fist onto the table. The cup of soup he failed to drink rattled and almost tipped over, but it managed to stay put.

The girl crossed her arms, tapping her foot patiently. There was a quiet pause.

"And your soup was nice, I just can't touch warm things for some reason, now..." He muttered under his breath, not caring if he was loud enough to be heard or not.

"Is that it?" She sighed, leaning to one side.

"Yes, yes I believe so." Falkner replied sharply, giving up keeping that airy, smooth voice he usually used on other people. For a moment, it looked as if the girl was hurt- but her face quickly scrunched up into a pout.

"Look I'm sorry, Falkner. I really am. It's just I've warned him, I specifically said, 'Don't release Aricuno just yet, wait a little longer'. And he goes and releases it on his favorite place. And now you're right in the middle of this mess." She swiftly sets off and starts rummaging around through piles and piles of notes filled with scribbles, text books, sketches, and diagrams. Professor Oak, it seemed, was a very busy man- and had plenty of help.

_Wait, how does she know my name? Oh that's right, I'm well known around a few other Regions. The young Trainer with a Pidgeotto, that's me... _He hunched over, probably well known for being one of the weakest Gym leaders out there as well. It was then he finally registered in what she was saying.

"Wait. You know what's going on? Who released Articuno?" He stared hard at the girl, who managed to drag a few scraps of paper from beneath mountains of books. Some even tumbled off the table like a land slide.

"Not exactly. I'm just taking guesses, right now. Professor Oak did a study on the Legendary birds, at one point. He said they were connected with the other Legendary birds from your Region. Ho-oh, Lugia," She flicked through a few papers. "Now ho-oh has the power to revive the dead, and to rise from it's own sacred ashes. You're a bird expert, aren't you?"

Falkner tilted his head, raising a brow.

"Of course. Are you getting at what I think you're getting at?" He leaned forward on his chair, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Are you saying that the three legendary birds have a similar power to this 'rise from it's own ashes' business?"

"Not exactly. Professor Oak was scribbling down something about how the birds are all attuned with their elements respectively, and when they run out of life, they have to transfer their elemental power onto a successor, while their spirits can rest." Her voice was slowly getting onto Falkner's nerves, mostly because of how fast she was talking.

"Okay, okay, just stop. You're now telling me that Articuno was dying, and it tried passing on it's elemental power onto Zephyr?" His fingers were at his temples now. It sort of made sense, he'll give the old Professor's theory that.

"Yeah. Your Pidgeotto, I think, will transform into the new Articuno in an undefined amount of time." She smiled sadly. It was always with that sad smile. What was her deal?

"Now that's why I mainly need help. I want to get my friend back to normal." Falkner shifted in his seat, lifting his head up from being buried in his hands. He kept a watchful eye on the girl, hoping she'd have at least a clue in how to fix that part.

"As far as I know... As far as Professor Oak knows, once it's done, it's done. What's wrong with having an icy companion?" She shrugged her arms up, attempting to lighten things up. To her surprise, though, Falkner abruptly rose from his chair, storming towards her.

"Because let me tell you something. Zephyr is changing. He can't control it, I saw it with my own eyes. And if I don't get him back to the way he was, he might be stuck this way forever."

Grabbing at her wrist, Falkner's cold hands stung the girl's skin. She tried pulling away, but Falkner persisted.

"F-Falkner... I think it's changed you more than it has to your friend." She shivered.

Shaking his head, Falkner realized how tight he had grabbed her wrist. Letting her go, he let his arms fall to his sides, and he turned away from the girl. More silence.

"I'm not changing. I never change. I'm the exact same person- the exact same thing- year after year. Do you know how insufferable it is?" Falkner's voice went dead-quiet. It was cold, heartless. He didn't care how unfriendly he was sounding, he was only getting his point across. Feeling a gentle peck on his neck, the gym leader lifted his head, turning to Zephyr. It chirped with concern. He lifted his hands and stroked his companion's ice-blue crest.

The girl wrapped her arms around herself. It was gradually getting colder in this room.

"You really have changed, Falkner. Maybe you just don't see it." She said, stepping to the side, she opened up a cupboard, looking for the mop. Falkner gritted his teeth.

"Stop sounding like you know me." He could of sworn he felt particles of ice flow around his throat.

"It's been that long, has it?" She said, quietly closing the cupboard on finding no mop there. Falkner froze. He slowly turned his head to see the girl.

"... Leaf?"

"Oh, now you remember! Lotsa-noodles." She perked up with a strange amount of cheeriness, lifting both her arms with feigned enthusiasm. Falkner held onto his head, eyes wide-spread.

"Anyway, I'll see if I can't scrounge up some more notes on your current dilemma. To be honest, I think you have yourself to worry about more than your friend. Last time I checked, humans aren't supposed to have abilities Pokemon do." She said, disappearing behind a book case. "Oh, and if somebody knocks on the door, it's probably Blue. Can you let him in, when he does? We were supposed to go on a date today. That is of course, he's too busy being a show-off again at his own Gym."

Falkner was still staring, not listening to her anymore. It didn't help that moments later, somebody did knock on the door. He didn't go and get it.


End file.
